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SOCIAL EARPLUGS: A CASE STUDY ON INTEGRATING HUMAN AUGMENTATION IN HEARING PROTECTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Muriel De Boeck*
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp
Jill Sempels
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp
Kristof Vaes
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp
*
De Boeck, Muriel, University of Antwerp, Belgium, [email protected]

Abstract

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Social augmentation refers to a human-computer integration technology that aims to enhance the user's social skills by supporting empathy, interaction and communication. This study investigated the implementation of social augmentation in hearing protection within the context of entertainment. Through a user-centred analysis, potential social augmentation functions for earplugs were conceived. Three innovative conceptual prototypes were then developed, each enriched with three social functions. Accordingly, each of these concepts should ensure that social skill is enhanced, facilitated or improved. To assess whether the concepts were successful, the social impact of the prototypes on the user and bystanders was evaluated and compared through questionnaires and focus groups using video footage. The results provided promising conclusions regarding the applied methodology and the potential for optimizing the iteration process of innovative human augmentation concepts.

Type
Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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